November 2011

We’re almost through the end of the year! Here’s how our November went this year! November 1 - Maximus LOVES Cool Whip! I am not sure why my husband thought my blood sugar was low at 3 a.m., but I'm glad he did because I was! It was crazy windy and rainy today… I got a few neat pictures out of the weather this morning, though!

Max had pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip this morning for breakfast, which means he ate Cool Whip for breakfast… He loves that stuff!

Ryan grabbed us a couple shirts at the JDRF walk in September, but the one he grabbed me was actually a children’s small, so it fits me kind of funny. I put it on Max today just to see how big it was on him… It’s huge, but he looks cute in it!

I got little Max to dance to my ‘80s workout mix today. He’s so cute! He’s trying really hard to figure out clapping now, too! November 2 - Maximus in His Halloween Costume! Max is driving me nuts with his eating habits lately… Today at lunch, he refused to eat any part of his corndog, but he was perfectly happy to eat plain ketchup and mustard off the stick… I love my little stink bug!

I didn’t get any good pictures of Max in his Halloween costume, so I decided to try to get some today. He was the most adorable little lion ever!

Here’s my little monkey tonight playing the “Sock Head” game he made up… He puts a sock on his head and walks around the house trying to keep it balanced!

November 3 - Maximus’ Surgical Consultation Max had his consultation this morning with Dr. Skarda, a pediatric surgeon at Primary Children’s Medical Center. The consultation went well, which is great! But we were a little annoyed with Max’s doctor for sending us there for what was basically a very expensive second opinion… Dr. Skarda said that Max does not have a hydrocele, but he has a lot of unusual fatty tissue that should dissipate as he gets older. It’s not something that is commonly seen in kids, but it’s nothing to worry about. He gave us his card in case we have more concerns as time goes on. Ryan had to go to school today, so it was yet another day of just Max and me hanging out. Malibu decided to curl up in my lap while Max was playing independently, and Max decided that HE wanted to be my baby--Malibu wasn’t allowed. So he pushed her out of my lap so he could sit with me! It was so cute!

Here's my silly monkey in his very messy room today!

November4 - Mommy’s Sick Day I woke up around 5:30 this morning feeling awful and couldn’t get back to sleep. I have been exhausted all day. I threw up eight times before noon today, so I called in sick to work and actually asked Ryan to come home from work… Friday is the worst possible day for me to ask him to get out of work! He didn’t come home until after 2 and by then, I was so dehydrated that I seriously thought I was going to die. I couldn’t keep down water, ice, food, or anything! Ryan brought home a Gatorade for me, which I kept down for an hour. I finished the other half afterwards and it stayed down. I couldn’t really eat anything for the rest of the day, though… I just sipped on Gatorade all evening. I was so grateful that Ryan finally came home so Max could actually have some interaction with someone and so I could take it easy while I was so sick. November 5 - Toys “R” Us I woke up still feeling pretty sick this morning. I took it pretty easy all day, and that night we took Max to Toys “R” Us. Ready to go!

Playing at Toys "R" Us!

November 6 - Max and Daddy! I hate couponers sometimes… They’re probably worse than most of the smokers I deal with every day! Today at work, three women came in together and they were each doing eight or so transactions each, so I paged for someone else to help me ring them up. My manager walks up and they say, "Oh, we're all together. She'll just page you when another customer comes up." This happened two more times when the other people I was working with tried to come help, too. I was super annoyed that they told my manager what was going to happen rather than let me get them out of the store so I could work on my other tasks. Really, I wanted to spend half my day ringing the three of them up... Then they decided I wasn't bagging their items the way they wanted, so they reorganized the bags and started grabbing things and putting them in specific bags every time I put them in a bag! I was so annoyed that they couldn't just let me do my job. They seemed to think that they were the most important people in the world… Ugh! Really? Ryan got some pictures of Max while I was at work today. They’re so cute!

I love these boys!

We also went window shopping tonight for fun. Max wanted to push the cart!

Ryan got Max to spin in circles until he was dizzy he couldn’t stand tonight, too. That kid is so freaking funny! I love him to death! November 7 - “Fall Behind!” Yesterday was Daylight Savings… I decided to get some pictures to commemorate it today! LOL, ‘cause I’m a nerd like that. No, really, I just saw this idea on Pinterest of painting a pumpkin on your baby’s bum, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it! By the way--it is really hard to mix Desitin and food coloring! Of the only time Max would snuggle a stuffed animal when I was ready with a camera would be while he was naked! Oh, well. Some cropping just makes the picture a little fuzzy, but it's still adorable! I LOVE this picture!

"Fall Behind!" ;-) Happy Daylight Savings!

November 8 - Clean Room!

Max's newest hobby drives me insane, but his room looks really clean! Hardly any toys are even scattered across the floor. Of course, thanks to this new favorite hobby of his (i.e., throwing things over the baby gate), toys litter the entire stairway and the main floor instead... Little turkey!

Ready for bed!

November 9 - Walks in the Cold! Max and I went for a walk today… It was so cold! I couldn’t believe it! But I got Max bundled up good before we left the house!

November 10 - Hat Monster Go figure that Max won’t wear his own hats, but when I’m making one for someone else, he’s perfectly happy to wear it and run around with it all day… :-/ Max has figured out how to clap, and it is seriously the cutest thing ever. I can’t figure out how to upload video here, but take my word for it--he claps super cute! Here are some more of the classic “Messy Max” pictures I got tonight! November 11 - Campfires and S’mores! Ryan took the car to Pep Boys this morning to have the oil changed... That place is ridiculous. He was the first person there... And it still took them an hour and 15 minutes to change the oil!! Pep Boys sucks! We went to Target this afternoon and stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch. Max loves their pizza! We went to the mall later that day and Max threw the biggest temper tantrum when it was time to go and he couldn’t play in the kids’ area anymore… He’s never really done that in public before! We decided to make s’mores tonight! Ryan and I are great at making really bad s’mores… Seriously, who burns the chocolate and doesn’t melt the marshmallow?! A few of them turned out okay, anyway, and Max LOVED the non-burnt chocolate! We were supposed to go to Ryan’s cousin’s wedding tonight, but Friday is a really hard day for Ryan to get out of work, so we didn’t end up going. Congratulations, though, to Brielle and Scott! November 12 - Freezing!! I photographed a wedding at Bridal Veil Falls today… It was so freaking cold! After the wedding, we went to my dad’s for dinner. That was almost an hour later and I was still freezing!! I was seriously frozen for the rest of the day! November 13 - McDonald’s I had to work this morning, and I have to ask… Who drinks alcohol while they are being rung up in a store?! I was ringing this guy up for smokes and I caught a whiff of something on him. I was trying o figure out what I was smelling when the guy asked if the cops were pretty strict around here. I asked what he meant and he told me he was drinking while he was walking. He had a colored drink container and as he flipped up the straw and took a swig, I realized it was alcohol... I mean, really? Who does that?! That night, we went to McDonald’s for dinner. Max had so much fun playing there with Daddy! November 14 - Vitamin D I found my bottle of Vitamin D caplets that I always forget to take in the fridge next to my Rockstar this morning... Maybe this is Ryan's way of reminding me?! When I asked him, he said he didn’t remember doing it. He took some, too, and apparently it just went in the fridge afterwards! November 15 - I Love My Son! I’ve had some issues recently with people dismissing my son because he doesn’t act like they are his best friend. My son doesn't automatically like someone just because they're family or my friend. Maybe he got that from me. You have to make an effort to get to know him and actually play with him! He is so much fun! But he's one. It's up to you to make the effort! Here is my cute little sleepyhead taking a nap today… And here is my latest finished product! I found this idea on Etsy and I love it! November 16 - What happened to my good little sleeper?! I am so exhausted today... Max stayed up in our bed after I fell asleep around 1. Then he was squirming and being noisy so I woke up and put him in his crib at 3:45. He cried for a good half an hour and was up again before 7:30 this morning! Oh, well. I love him and he sure is cute, anyway! Here he is playing with his belly button… And here he is playing with Malibu today! November 17 - Still Not Sleeping! Maximus woke up at 6 a.m. again this morning. Thankfulky, he did fall asleep after I pulled him into bed with me. I got to sleep until 8:30 today! And he slept until 9:45! I love grilled cheese sandwiches. Max loves them now, too! I love sitting at the table having grilled cheese for lunch with my son! It’s quite fun. Here is my cute little stinker having a drink of water out of his straw sippy today! November 18 - Our Greatest Blessing Two years ago today, I learned that an amazing little person was getting ready to become our son. Our lives have been so blessed since then, and the joys in our lives continue to outweigh the hardships because we are so very grateful for the blessings we have because of him! We love you so much, Maximus. Thank you for being so amazing! November 19 - Family Date! We took Max to the mall again today to play for a bit. He loves it there! We went home for dinner and then we headed to Ikea to do some Christmas shopping for Max. Max is all ready to go! Max being silly in the shopping cart! Back at home! Max fell asleep hugging me tonight. That’s my new favorite thing! I could do this every night! :-) November 21 - Happy “Diaversary” to Me! Max's new favorite breakfast as of today: cinnamon French toast sticks dipped in warm strawberry jam! :-) Here’s the little cutie walking around in Daddy’s shoes this morning. Ignore the messy room! Today is my 14 Year "Diaversary!” Ironic that I was diagnosed with diabetes in November, because it’s National Diabetes Awareness Month. I’ve spent the entire month of November on Facebook trying to get my friends and family to learn more about diabetes and asking them to sign the newest petition for the Artificial Pancreas Project. I think I got a few people to sign, and even my sister, Brooke, got in on the action and started asking her friends to sign as well. November 23 - Oh, Puddin’! Here’s the cutest little guy ever in his bath this morning! A lot of good that bath did… Here’s the cutest little guy ever enjoying some pudding after dinner! November 24 - Thanksgiving This year was supposed to be the Nelson family’s year for Thanksgiving (meaning we were supposed to be going to Richfield), but as the time got closer, Ryan and I decided not to go because we couldn’t afford the gas to drive there and back. So of course, Gene and Maralee tricked us AND Ryan’s brother Cameron into going. Gene took Cameron and Maralee took our family. We felt bad that they were taking two cars and that they didn’t get to drive together, but we are glad we got to go. It’s always nice to see Ryan’s family! Max actually got to eat REAL food this year, but he mostly just enjoyed the potatoes and whipped cream from the pie. Silly boy! Max got to smell a candle while we were eating. I've never seen another kid Max's age who enjoys smelling things so much! I am thankful for so many things this year. I am thankful for my amazing husband and my precious son who complete my life. My family and friends are awesome. My diabetes and the other hardships I face in my life make me stronger and help me grow. I am thankful for my life! November 25 - Black Friday I worked in the afternoon today, so I didn’t have to deal with the psycho early morning Black Friday shoppers… Not that the evening shoppers were any better! But it was nice to spend some time with my family this morning! And we did do some shopping--we just did it later than the crazies! I got Spongebob out for Max to see this morning. Max thinks he’s pretty neat! Max also thought it was pretty fun to wear Mom’s shoes today… Silly kid! We also built a fort for Max today. He loved sitting in it with Daddy! Work was interesting tonight… And I was beyond livid with whoever did garbages the day before. One of our outside garbages and one in the office didn’t have bags fully covering the can, which meant that the garbage people had thrown away was inside the can, but NOT inside the bag. There were also two other garbages that didn’t have bags inside of them AT ALL, and my co-workers had just filled them up all day. I was pretty upset when it was time to take them out. I think my co-workers bothered my more than the crazy Black Friday shoppers today! Which is pretty sad… November 26 - Family Photos We took Max to Denny’s today for breakfast. He ate pretty good! I guess he usually does, though, when the food is THAT healthy, LOL! I wanted to get some family pictures done for Christmas cards again this year, but as wild as Max is, I thought it would be easier to ask someone else to take them for us. So my sister was nice enough to help! Sadly, it was really cold and Max was really grumpy, so we had a hard time getting very many that were good! But, thank you to Brooke for all of your help, anyway. We really appreciate it and we’re glad we got a couple good ones! November 27 - Setting Up the Christmas Tree Max tried grapefruit today and LOVED it! I didn’t expect him to, but he ate so good at breakfast for me! We decided to set up our Christmas tree tonight. Here’s Max waiting for Daddy to bring it upstairs! And now it’s time to set it up! November 28 - Decorating the Christmas Tree My son chose grapefruit over cinnamon French toast sticks that taste like they've been fried in cinnamon sugar... Yay! He ate an entire half of grapefruit this morning and then wanted mine! I’m amazed he loves it so much. I thought yesterday was a one-time thing! Today we decorated our Christmas tree. After Max woke up, of course! Aren’t these boys the cutest?! Max had lots of fun helping us decorate the tree! We got all the Christmas decor up except the stockings! We even attempted outdoor lights this year... Yay us! November 29 - Maximus’ New Bib! Thank you, Ikea for the greatest invention ever... A bib with sleeves! It doesn't feel the same to Max as a regular bib, so he doesn't try to pull it off! Here’s a couple other pictures of our little sweetheart today. Isn’t he cute?! Ryan and I each got about 10 kisses on the arm from Max last night! At least we think that was what he was doing... LOL! It’s so fun to see him learn new things and grow every day! November 30 - Kissy Monster Apparently, Max was kissing everyone except me last night!! Stink bug... Oh, well, I got them yesterday! Anyway, that is it for November. Coming soon is December, so check back in the next couple of weeks for more!